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Thrill of the Hunt
Thrill of the Hunt is a short film written, directed, filmed, scored and edited by Scott Pincus. It served as the midterm project for Scott's college Media Arts I class, for which he created a two-person narrative short. The film stars Gabe Sagherian and Zion Figueroa. The film follows a photographer, Drew, whose car breaks down in the woods. As he walks to find help, he comes across a guy named Chester, who offers to fix his car. As the situation unfolds, Drew quickly realizes the startling life that Chester was forced to live. The film was one of two projects Scott made for his Media Arts I class, the other being The Downingtown Gates of Hell. Production for the film began in September 2017, with original plans being to make a film about a girl getting stalked by a hoodlum at night. Scott ultimately decided against this concept, rewriting the script and filming the project on October 22 with Zion and Gabe. Thrill of the Hunt was released on October 27, 2017. Plot The film opens with a silver car parked on a dirt road in the woods. A photographer, Drew (Zion Figueroa), tries starting it but is unable to. He tries calling for help on his phone, but finds he has no service. Drew walks off down the road, and finds help in the form of a stranger named Chester (Gabe Sagherian). Drew explains the dilemma with his car, and Chester offers to help fix it. Chester and Drew are still unable to fix the car. Uncertain, Chester asks him if he knows how many people have gone missing on this road. Drew believed these were just rumors, and asks why Chester is out here. Chester explains that his family lived out here for decades, and they were full of trouble, with his dad being a serial killer. Chester says that to live with his past, he chose to embrace it, and unsheathes a machete from under his sweatshirt. Revealing his sadistic intentions, Chester forces Drew to run off into the woods for twenty minutes, with the aspiration of hunting him now. Drew runs off into the woods, and Chester goes off in search of him. The two run through the woods before Drew trips on a rotten tree and falls. As he rises up, he sees Chester in the distance, who sinisterly points out Drew. Terrified, Drew gets up and continues running through the woods, with Chester in pursuit. As Drew runs through the woods, Chester manages to sneak around and catch up to him. Drew begs for Chester's mercy, but he punches Drew, who falls against a dead tree as both collapse to the ground. Chester gets down beside Drew and prepares to kill him, but Drew manages to punch Chester and knock him off. Opting to flee instead of staying to fight, Drew runs off and returns to his car. As he tries starting it, Chester runs up the road. After several desperate attempts, the car finally starts up, and Drew speeds off - nearly hitting Chester in the process. Chester stares down the road, filled with rage, as he watches Drew make his escape. Production Pre-production on the film began in September 2017, when Scott began working on his midterm project for his Media Arts I class. Early ideas for the film involved a drunk college student walking the streets of Philadelphia one night and being chased by a dangerous hoodlum. On September 30, Scott completed a concept proposal for the film, and planned for his friend Bella to play the student. He never officially cast an actor to play the hoodlum. As production began on the project, Scott felt uneasy about the premise, feeling there wasn't much to it and it lacked depth. Several weeks later, Scott ultimately changed the premise of the film to a photographer who is confronted by a deranged murderer out in the woods. After relaying the new concept to his TA, who said he was happy about the change and believed the original concept was clichéd. During this time, the script was rewritten entirely. Scott messaged Zion Figueroa about appearing in the film, and he agreed to play the photographer, Drew. Gabe Sagherian was cast as Chester, the murderer. Scott went on a solo location scout for the film on October 21. Filming for the project took place on October 22, and it was completed that day. Editing and scoring for the film took place from October 22 to October 27, and the film was released on October 27. Reception The film was met with a positive reception, with Scott receiving an 8.5/10 on the project itself. On the film's rubric, Scott's TA remarked, "Strong horror genre piece, though a little cliché, the actors in the scene were confident and did well, the shots were chosen and edited well." On YouTube, the film received a positive reception with thirteen likes. While critiquing the film in class, several students remarked that the music fit well and wasn't what you'd expect from a horror/thriller. Several students remarked that Drew not taking Chester's machete after punching him was a plot hole, though Scott justifies that Drew's goal in the movie is to flee and not fight. Scott's film professor, Catherine Pancake, attended the critique and recommended using music more sparingly and only when scenes truly need it. She also recommended giving the audience more of a connection to the characters. Looking back on the film, Scott wishes that he made a more unique film with some twists and more interesting characters. He believes that while he tried setting up a story world for the characters, things weren't fleshed out enough and the project's potential wasn't fully grasped. Music : See Media Arts I Soundtracks This was Scott's second time composing original music for one of his projects, with the first being The Legend of the Creepy Guy in the Woods. Scott had finished scoring that film in February 2017, eight months before working on Thrill of the Hunt, so he had time to improve his score writing. Scoring for Thrill of the Hunt began on October 23, 2017, and was completed by October 27, the day of its release. For the film, Scott created a main theme for the antagonist, Chester, which he describes as a rapid acceleration of notes with a octaves constantly changing from high to low. This theme is played through the film's main chase scene. A more lighthearted and slower version of the theme, now changed to a four note motif, also plays when Drew speaks with Chester before realizing he's a murderer. The score for the film was released on February 1, 2018, along with the score for The Downingtown Gates of Hell. A total of seven tracks were included in the score. Trivia *Scott debated making some sort of sequel or spin-off to the film for his final film project, but ultimately scrapped the idea in favor of pursuing something new. He wound up making a documentary called The Downingtown Gates of Hell. *Until the release of this film, at some capacity Alex Fanelli appeared in every one of Scott's projects in 2017. *This was Zion Figueroa's first short film since Isarus in April 2016. *Zion Figueroa supplied the machete that was used in the film, while Gabe Sagherian's car was used. In the film, however, Zion was the one who used the car, while Gabe was the one who wielded the machete. Category:Short Films Category:2017 Storyline Category:Thrill of the Hunt Category:Standalone Films Category:School Projects Category:College Projects